Hill of the Moon

Shankar is the son of Aaj Paragon. This time he just FA. Sitting on the side of the village. Between work, going to friends' houses in the morning to hang out, taking a long nap in the afternoon, going fishing in Palghat in the afternoon. After spending the entire Baisakh in this way, one day his mother called him and said, "Listen to me, Shankar." Your father is not well. How will you study in this situation? Who will pay the expenses? Try something this time. Mother's words made Shankar think. Indeed, his father's health has been deteriorating for a few months now. It is becoming increasingly impossible for him to pay the expenses of Calcutta. But what Shankar will do? Will anyone give him a job now? Do you know who he is? At the time we are talking about, the Great War in Europe was still five years late. About the year 1909. The job market wasn't that bad back then. A gentleman from Shankar's village used to work at a jute mill in Shyamnagar or Naihati. Shankar's mother told his wife about her son's job, so that she could get Shankar a job at a jute mill for her husband. The gentleman came home the next day to say that he would try for Shankar's job. Shankar is not an ordinary type of boy. He always came first in sports while studying at school. He won first place in high jump and got a medal during the Seva sub-division exhibition. There was no center forward and zone in football at that time. Find his partner to swim. He is very skilled in tree climbing, horse riding, boxing. YMCA while studying in Calcutta. He practiced boxing regularly. Due to all these reasons he did not do well in the examination, passing in the second division. But he had a strange knowledge about one thing. His hobby was to read the maps of all the states and big books of geography. He is very strong in geography. He knows almost all the constellations that appear in the sky of our country - that is Kalpurusha, that is Saptarshi, that is Cassiopeia, that is Scorpio. Which rises in which month, in which direction - all at his fingertips. Looking at the sky will tell immediately. It can be said without a doubt that most of the boys in our country do not know these things. This time when he came from Calcutta for the exam, he bought all those books in one go, sat alone and read them often and knew how. Then came his father's illness, the poverty of the family and immediately his mother's request to take a job in a jute mill. What will he do? He is absolutely invincible. He will not be able to see the dirty face of his parents. He must take a job at a jute mill. But it is not that he does not understand that the dream of life will be broken. Named center forward in football, high jump champion of the district, named swimmer Shankar at the end of jute call Babu; He would have to run to the phone at the c***k of dawn in the morning with food and drink in a box the size of a nickel book, and then at twelve o'clock he would eat two and leave again - on the other hand, at six o'clock he would be off. His young fresh mind could not think of that. Just thinking about it, his whole body and mind became rebellious - the race horse will go to pull the car in the end? It is not too late in the evening. Shankar was thinking about these things as he sat alone by the river. His mind longs to fly to the far, far lands of the world—in the midst of a hundred adventures. Like Livingstone, Stanley, Harry Johnston, Marco Polo, Robinson Crusoe. He prepared himself for this since his childhood - although he did not think that what could happen to the boys of other countries, it would be impossible for the Bengali boys. They are made to become clerks, schoolmasters, doctors or lawyers. The prospect of traversing the unknown territory in an unknown way is sheer desperation for them. That night, in the soft light of the lamp, he opened Westlake large geography book and sat down to read. A place in this library impressed him greatly. It is the strange account of climbing the Mountain of the Moon, a large mountain in Africa, written by the famous German traveler Anton Hauptmann. How many times has he read it? How many times has he thought while reading that he too will one day conquer the Mountain of the Moon like Herr Hauptmann. Dream! The real Moon Hills are forever distant objects. Do you understand the mountains of the moon on earth? That night he had a very strange dream... Dense bamboo forest all around. A group of wild elephants are breaking bamboo. He and someone else with him, the two of them climb a huge mountain, the scenery around is just like the scene in Hauptmann's Mountain of the Moon. The thick bamboo forest, the big trees hanging down, the rustling rushes below, the occasional bare hill, and the mountain peak forever covered in white washes in the distance between the trees — one is visible, one is hidden behind the forest. A star or two here and there in the clear sky. Once he actually heard the roar of a wild elephant. The entire forest shook… It seemed so real, as if he was woken up by the call! He sat up on the bed, it was dawn, daylight came into the room through the window. A. What a dream he saw! Many people say that morning dreams come true. There is a broken old temple in their village. Madan Roy, the son-in-law of a Bhuiyan of Bar Bhuiyan, built this temple in ancient days. Now there is no one in Madan Roy's clan. The temple is dilapidated, ashwath trees, banyan trees have grown on the cornice—but the upper arch where Tagore's altar is still intact. There is no idol, yet puja is performed on Saturday and Tuesday, girls leave vermilion and sandalwood on the altar. Everyone says that Tagore is a wise man, whatever he vows, he gets what he promises. That day, Shankar got up after taking a bath and hung a stone on a banyan tree in the temple and prayed. In the afternoon he went and sat for a long time in the Database forest in front of the temple. The place is in the neighborhood but surrounded by forest, nearby is a burnt house; There was a murder in their house when Shankar was a child - since then the owner of the house has left this village and lives elsewhere; Everyone says the place is haunted. No one comes here alone. But Shankar likes to sit quietly in the forest of this secluded temple premises. The dream of this morning is etched in his mind. Sitting in this forest, Shankar remembered that picture again - that group of wild elephants breaking the bamboo trees, the snow-covered peaks of Landscaping, high up in the dense forest of the mountains, as if indicating the limits of a dream kingdom. No matter how many dreams he has seen in his life - he has never seen such a clear picture in his dream - no dream has ever drawn such a deep line in his mind. All lies! He has to go to work at the jute mill. So his cheek-lip, is not it? But in people's life, there are all kinds of strange things that happen in the novel, the readers will not want to believe, they will laugh it off. In Shankar's life too, such an incident happened completely unexpectedly. In the morning, he came out to the riverside and had just stepped into the house, when Rameshwar Museum's wife from the other side came with some paper and handed it to him and said - Baba Shankar, my son-in-law has been found after a long time. They wrote a letter to their house in Bhadreshwar, yesterday Pintu came from there, they wrote his address. Read, father. Shankar said - A, the search was found after about two years. What fear did he show by running away from home? He ran away once before, didn't he? Then he opened the paper. It is written— Prasanna Banerjee, Uganda Railway Head Office, Construction Department, Mombasa, East-Africa. The piece of paper fell from Shankar's hand. East Africa! Fleeing people go so far? However, she knows that this husband of Nani Ala Didi is very right-handed and vagabond. Once in this village Shankar had a conversation with him - Shankar had just passed the entrance class. The person is very generous, well educated, but cannot stay long in any one job, flighty nature. And once he ran away to Burma or Cochin, where did he go? Shankar had already heard the news that he had run away from home because of a quarrel with his grandfather. That Prasad Babu has escaped and pushed himself to East Africa! Rameshwar Museum's wife did not understand how far her son-in-law had gone. He had no idea of ​ ​ such a distance. When he left, Shankar wrote down the address in his note book and wrote a letter to Prasad Babu within a week. Does he remember Shankar? He is the son of his in-laws village. This time F.A. Sitting at home on the side. Can he give them a job in the railway? He will go as far as possible. A month and a half later, when Shankar had almost despaired of receiving a reply to the letter—an enveloped letter arrived in Shankar's name. It reads— Mombasa No. 2 Port Street Dear Shankar, I received your letter. I miss you so much. I have not forgotten that I lost my service to you with the force of my wrist. will you come here come away If a boy like you doesn't come out, who else will? New rail is being built here, will take more people. Come as soon as you can. I am taking charge of your work. your- Prasanna Banerjee Shankar's father is very happy to see the letter. In his youth, he himself was a right-handed person. He did not like that his son would go to work in the jute mill, only because of the lack of family, he was forced to agree according to Shankar's mother. A few months later, a telegram in Shankar's name came from Bhadreshwar. That son-in-law came to the country recently. Shankar should go and meet him after receiving the telegram. He will return to Mombasa in twenty days. You can take Shankar with you.